I fancy myself a halfway intelligent person, but I always seem to make the most head-smackingly stupid mistakes. A “for instance” would be the fact that I didn’t realize the News-Sentinel had an early deadline for the Fourth of July holiday, and found myself prepping for a late screening of “Magic Mike” as I discovered that the Lodi Living section was getting ready to go to press. It seems my stupidity knows no bounds.

My instructions for this week weren’t very specific — I was simply assigned to write up something “food-related” to stay with the theme of this week’s Lodi Living. And when I’m not given ironclad instructions, I tend to take advantage of the situation and use it as an excuse to get a little weird. So, I present to you a painstakingly assembled hodgepodge of awesome food-related things in movies, in no order and adhering to absolutely no rules or guidelines. Bon appetit?

Time has flown by so fast these past few weeks that I’ve barely had time to savor the build-up to Halloween. No matter: This week I’m making up for lost time with a look at “Paranormal Activity 2,” along with a short run-down on some random horror flicks I’ve seen in the past week or so. (The old “Film Log” feature is returning, thanks to Battle Royale, so be on the lookout as I attempt to log mini-reviews for every movie I watch. I usually average about four or five a week. Also, please see the sidebar for a brief update on the blog goings-on.)

Back with a proper review this week, although we’ll also delve into all that fun auteurism stuff again. Next week, I’ll take a look at “Paranormal Activity 2” just in time for Halloween. (It strikes me as a completely unnecessary cash-in sequel to a film that was perfect as a stand-alone, but there’s always a slim chance the filmmakers learned from last decade’s “Blair Witch 2” fiasco, and ensured that their movie augments an established mythos instead of, you know, taking a giant dump on it.

All jabs aside, here is my list of top 20 movie scenes. Unlike the others, though, I have no way of listing them an any kind of order. The top three are my actual three favorite scenes, but after that they are in no particular order.

The big-budget remake of the '80s cheeseball classic "Clash of the Titans" has arrived with much fanfare, and count me alongside the legions of fans who have, thus far, made the movie an even bigger hit than anyone expected.

The end of the decade coincides with the 10-year anniversary of this column, and what better way to mark the occasion than with an obsessive ranking of the decade's best films?

Between Pixar's "Up" and Disney's release of Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo," 2009 had already cemented itself as a notable year for animated films in general and Disney presentations in particular.

Opening this week:

"Sex and the City"

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" *** 1/2 (out of four)

"Iron Man"

"Iron Man"

One could criticize "Iron Man" for its lack of creativity, and in a sense that would be a valid complaint. As directed by Jon Favreau (whose previous filmmaking experience is limited to the likes of "Elf" and "Zathura") the movie takes few chances and pretty much plays things by the book. It follows the standard superhero formula in every aspect, and brings nothing new to the genre.

At long last, Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have resolved their considerable differences, and are re-teaming to film two more Middle Earth movies. One will be an adaptation of "The Hobbit," and the other will be based on various other writings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Like most "Lord of the Rings" fans, I was initially psyched at the prospect of a triumphant return to Middle Earth.

Sam Raimi is best known to general audiences as the creative mind behind the "Spider-Man" series, and he's most familiar to the indie crowd for his previous trilogy, the "Evil Dead" horror films. With two cultural icons like Spidey and Ash under his belt, it can be easy to forget that Raimi isn't merely a franchise filmmaker. In fact, his best work was done on a stand-alone film nearly a decade ago, long before Marvel's web-slinging super hero turned Raimi into a household name.

If the primary purpose of cinema is to show us things we're unable to see in our dull real lives, and to allow the viewer to experience an unfamiliar situation vicariously, then nobody has more use for "snow movies" than Lodians. So you don't feel like trekking up to the mountains on a day trip in order to get your fix of that elusive white wonder, take a trip to the video store instead and check out these frosty treats, which for my money offer more thrills than any old ski slope.